If you’re planning to redecorate your home or turn your new house into a home that matches your personality, you might be thinking of hiring an interior decorator. Also, if you’re looking to sell your home in the near future, you might be wondering if consulting an interior decorator could help make your home more inviting to potential buyers. You might be wondering if the expense of hiring a decorator is really justifiable. After all, you know what you want your home to look like, right? Or maybe you figure prospective buyers will be able to see the potential of your space without bringing in a professional. Below, we’ll discuss what, exactly, interior decorators do for their clients and why hiring one could make your life easier and even be a cost effective way to go.

If you’re going to be listing your home for sale, you want to get the most money in the shortest amount of time, right? Interior decorators are very much on top of current trends and understand what buyers in your area are looking for. Obviously, a decorator can’t give you an extra bathroom or turn your smallish kitchen into a chef’s paradise, but a decorator can help make the best of the space you have. The right furnishings, colors, and room arrangements can make small rooms seem bigger and large rooms seem more cozy than cavernous. Knowing what will make your home more attractive to buyers can get you top dollar in no time, which can definitely make the cost of hiring the decorator more than worthwhile.

If you want to redecorate your home, hiring a decorator can help you pull everything together in ways you might not figure out on your own. A good decorator is someone who will work with you to understand your personality and preferences rather than just rely on the latest issue of some magazine. Decorators understand how to take your description of your ideal home and/or favorite magazine pictures and put them together with your personality, lifestyle, and even hobbies and other interests and create an atmosphere that matches you and your family. Decorators often have multiple contacts in the community that can actually save you money on purchases and give you access to pieces that the general public may not have. Why spend a couple of days or more visiting every store in town trying to find just the right pieces when you can hire a decorator who knows the best places to find what you want or can even do all the running around for you?

If your only real idea of what a decorator is like is based on various movies and TV shows that too often depict decorators as overbearing types who take over your home and spend all of your money, you might be surprised to discover that most decorators aren’t anything like that. In fact, most decorators understand that making your home match your personality and your lifestyle will only work if you are involved in the whole process. Decorators spend as much time as they can making sure they understand their clients’ goals and wishes and rarely make final decisions or purchases without the client’s approval. They also are very respectful of a client’s budget. Their livelihood and reputation depend on happy clients, so they’re at least as determined as you are to give you the look you want while staying within your budget. In fact, in addition to their insider info being able to save you money, their ability to see the big picture can save you money (and time and aggravation) by making sure you don’t spend money on a piece or paint color that just won’t work.

In addition to being able to stay with you from inception to completion, many decorators can be hired on a consulting-only basis. This gives you a chance to run your ideas by a professional who can make sure you stay on track and can maybe steer you away from mistakes or just help you tie everything together better than you could on your own.